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Thursday, August 28, 2014

As much as my mom might roll her eyes at hearing this, I'm not too much of a fan of clutter. Especially on my gadgets.

I've spent hours organizing my music collection (using a fantastic tool called Tag&Rename) and I kinda get a kick out of photo organizing.

When I got my first computer, I quickly saw the merit of the 'Quick Launch' toolbar, a handy place to keep all the rubbish at bay. It was our cheap version of the cool icon-bar on Apple computer. However, as Windows got more evolved (I use that term cautiously), the Quick Launch bar went away and caused me immense distress. Until I discovered a workaround. It's pretty simple.

Step One: Right click the Taskbar, and deselect 'Lock The Taskbar'. Then drag it to increase its height.

Step Three: Right click the toolbar. Go to Toolbars -> New Toolbar. Navigate to select the 'Toolbar' folder you've just created. Voila! Your 'toolbar' is created there, and now you can drag and drop shortcuts and create your own Quick Launch. Right click and deselect 'Show text' and 'Show title'.

Step Four: Drag and drop shortcuts of apps you commonly use onto this little toolbar.

And there you have it! All the commonly used programs are right down there. Making it easy for you to access them. If there are certain files that you access regularly as well (For eg: I have an Expenses file and a cycling log whose Excels are linked down there so I don't have to navigate every time I need to make an entry).

Oh, and a couple more things:

1. I hate having icons on the desktop. A clean desktop is more therapeutic than you think. It also forces you to keep new downloads / documents in folders they should be in rather than the most convenient location. It's easy to hide icons from the desktop. See?

2. If your computer is slow to start, it could be because there are lots of rubbish apps (Adobe Acrobat updater, anyone?) that feel compelled to start when the computer starts. Thankfully, you can disable all of them. Go to your start bar, and type in 'msconfig.exe'. Then go to 'Startup' and uncheck whatever you don't want at startup. Some tools might be useful, of course, like your antivirus, but in general, you can safely uncheck most of these.

Friday, August 08, 2014

Firstly - the good news. You'll still have hair when you turn 30. But not by much. Also, you're married to an awesome woman. I don't want to spill the beans about that here (why take away from the joy of discovery?). All I will say is - keep an active interest in audio products, especially ones that play lossless files. Also, yes - you'll end up in MICA and advertising, like you wanted. Living the dream of wearing shorts to office and making PPTs at 11 PM.

However, life is not all hunky-dory. There are going to be some ups and some very downing downs, but I can't tell you about them, because, heck, you love Back To The Future as much as I do, and you know what happens when you go mucking around with the space-time continuum too much.

However, here's some advice for you. Keep these things in mind, won't you?

Invest.
I know. Most boring start ever. But seriously, this will make more difference to your life than the Darcy-Weishbach Equation ever will. You'll start earning soonish. Just plonk away a teeny amount like 1000 a month into an RD or something. Do some compound interest calculations and (to use 2014 lingo), what happens next will astonish you.

No, really, you idiot. Stop hogging at Thrissur AFC and get a good mutual fund instead.

Travel.
You stay in freakin' Kerala. Most people around the world would do anything to be where you are (no, not in the hostel exactly - but you get my point). Tons of your batchmates go on bike rides. Join them. That way, you won't be spending your 30th birthday wondering how to pack all that you want to do in 5 days of an upcoming Kerala trip. Just... Go. Discover. Do. Click. Soak it in.

Write and draw.
You used to draw some decent comics when you were in school. You stopped while at college. Don't. Keep drawing. Soon, the internet will allow you to publish stuff online. Write. Write a lot. Regularly. That way, some of the stuff you do publicly online later will be less embarrassing. And trust me - there's a lot of rubbish out there with your name on it.

Listen to a lot of music.
You're stuck in a rut of listening to the same 30 songs over and over again. Explore new genres. Rock, metal, prog, classic, world, Mallu film... There's so much to listen to, and when you're 30, you'll feel like you wasted your 20s not listening to at least 1 TB by now. (Haha, you don't know what a TB is... How cute. Wiki it. Oh wait.)

Make music. Even if it's bad.
Soon, you'll be in a place which has talented musicians, a recording studio, a captive audience and tons of free time. Take advantage of all of that. Play stuff. Record. You'll never get that opportunity again. Going to MICA and not making music is like going to Barbeque Nation and eating paneer. Just publish something to call your own.

Value free time.
Treasure every free minute. And dammit, do something. You while away way too much time. Get off your arse. Exercise. Lose that flab. Go for a walk. Explore the cities you've stayed in but know jack about. Do anything. Just don't laze around. You gotta look back at each day and say, "Yeah, I did something awesome today."

Do this and you'll be fine. I wonder if my 40-year-old self would be kind enough to send me a letter, now...

Saturday, May 31, 2014

The room was abuzz with activity. Journalists uncomfortably
shifted in their chairs, murmuring among themselves. Rivals from various TV
channels forgot their contractual obligation to confidentiality, and freely
discussed things that had been going through the grapevine. For, if what was
being rumoured was indeed true, it would change the landscape of India’s
favourite sport for ever.

The murmur suddenly reached a crescendo, and then fell to
absolute silence. He’d come. Lalit Kumar Modi. Some say the most powerful
person in the ICC, the one who really calls all the shots.

Modi took his seat, and quietly surveyed an army of
journalists and cricket enthusiasts in front of him. He spotted a few legends
of the game as well, some not from India. He knew very well the implications of
what he was about to say – it would draw flak from the pundits, shock among the
masses and panic amongst advertisers. He knew it all. But ‘Lalz’ was a brave
man. Despite a voice frequency which could make a tuning fork move on its own,
he knew how to get into dangerous and controversial things. And pull them off.
After all, he was the kingpin in his school Tazo mafia. A quick thought of him
exchanging a worthless Cheeto Tazo for a prized international Lay’s one from a
‘gelf’ Mallu sucker flickered through his mind. He smiled briefly and then let
out a puff of air. It was time.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming”, he
delivered. “Our great sport, started by our British and Australian ancestors in
the 1870s, has come a long way. From Grace to Bradman to Sobers to Lillee to
Richards to Tendulkar to Murali. It’s been a journey. But change has been
constant, my friends. And we must endeavour to move with the times.”

The crowd took in a small gasp. They knew what was coming.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour, privilege and deep
responsibility to unveil before you, The World Test Cricket Championship.”

The crowd stared. They knew precisely this was what would
happen, yet they couldn’t believe this was happening. The journalists took it
all down, not wanting to miss a moment. This would shape the future of cricket
as they knew it.

“The top eight T20 teams in the world will now battle it out
over a period of ten years to decide to World Test champion. But, I sense
unrest among a lot of you, and would like to assure you that this will have no
impact on the current T20 or ODI schedules. The yearly World Cup of each will
continue to happen, we will continue to have the IPL, but we must embrace this
new format, which is making waves around the world. This IS the future of
cricket.”

There were questions galore, but no one knew where to start.
Lalit saw this all and continued to smile. Perhaps now he could continue, he
had prepared a long speech for all eventualities.

“See, over 130 years ago, when England and Australia played
that first T20 match, when Charles Bannerman scored the now legendary 57 not
out off 33 balls, little did we know how cricket would evolve. Many things have
come and gone since. The scoops and reverse sweeps have made way for cover
drives and square cuts. Those of you who watch grainy images of Don Bradman’s
epic 166*, the highest T20 score to date, will attest to that fact. The
rebellious Kerry Packer, in a bid to increase the amount of advertiser revenue
possible, staged ‘longer’ matches, which he called One Day cricket. And to the
horror of many people, he started using white uniforms regularly to distinguish
his so-called one-day league! But today, it is accepted practice to wear whites
and no one really raises a fuss.”

“Last year, after a complaint by some of the counties in
Papua New Guinea complained they were not getting enough matches, the PNGCB
came across a novel idea – a three-day match of 50 overs per day... With two
innings. Many of you remember that, I remember there being much criticism in
the press... Your press... About the same. How the world’s top T20 country
could do something that could kill the game! But the floodgates opened! People
loved this new method. Cricketers loved it too! They said it didn’t have the
frenetic pace of T20, and could focus on constructing an innings.”

“RUBBISH!”, screamed a legendary Malaysian T20 cricketer
from the crowd, part of the 1977 World Cup winning squad. “Constructing an
innings? What nonsense! It’s all this new generation and their lazy attitude!
In our days, we’d just get out there in our coloured outfits and smash the
bloody ball around! The worst kids would be given the ball, to teach ‘em a
frikkin’ lesson. Why, we used to thwap sixes the height of the Petronas in
those days...”

Modi sighed. He expected backlash. “I agree to your point,
sir. But this is not 1977 anymore. Things have changed. There are more
youngsters interested in building their technique and defence. And what’s more,
bowlers are starting to feel marginalized, and have got better. Infact...”, and
he knew this statement was going to bring the house down, “I have made it
mandatory for each team to select bowlers on merit.”

The din took five minutes to subside. “Defence?!” screamed a
pundit. “What new-fangled rot!” and left the room in disgust.

A journalist, known for his statistical bent of mind, took
the audience mic. “Sir, this is very brave. But... Everything’s going to
change. What will a good innings be now? A batsman has virtually unlimited time
to score runs. Will we be seeing scores of 200s and 300s made by a single
batsman?”

“It could very well happen. The idea is to give a batsman
time to construct an innings and the bowler, being a vital part of the game,
will aim to outfox the batsman proactively rather than hoping for an error.
We’re hoping that someone will be able to better Shane Warne’s 2/4.”

Some of the audience couldn’t fathom it. A bowler taking
more than 2 wickets in a game! Things would never be the same! What would
happen to the IPL, the institutional tournament which was into its 23rd
year? How would players be able to handle the heat and conditions for 5
straight days, for over 80 overs per day? All this fitness nonsense was going
to ruin the game, many felt.

Modi smiled, realising his work was done. “On a parting
note, friends. I’d just like to tell you not be afraid of change. Yes, this may
seem too much and too daring. But it could have easily been the other way
round. Imagine if we had started out with Test cricket instead, and slowly
changed to T20 over the years. Imagine if Bradman were a Test cricketer –
imagine the number of runs he would have scored! Imagine if bowlers were given
competent wickets to bowl on all this while, they might actually have had a
role to play. Why, some of them might have picked up all ten wickets in an
innings!”

At this last point, the audience burst into laughter. Modi’s
legendary wit had worked again. And at once, they knew it was alright. Change
was inevitable. Yes, many could picture parody articles on cricket websites for
the next few days (“Modi proposes timeless Test matches”, one satirist was already thinking up). There
would be flak.

But that was how cricket had to evolve if it were to keep up
with the other sports of the world. T20 cricket was for too long snubbed by
Americans as being ‘mentally bland’, compared to the intellectual requirement
of golf or 3-day baseball. Perhaps Test cricket was that lease of life that was required to save cricket.

In a corner in his room in Bangalore, a young cricketer
who’d never been able to break into the India T20 team smiled. Rahul Dravid knew
his time had come.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

So, there comes the time in every person's life where he's bitten by the travel bug.

In Mumbai, where I stay, people have the common lament that:
1. Travel is expensive
2. There's nowhere worth visiting nearby except the same ol' hill stations which are now commercialized.

I beg to differ. Maharashtra is home to some spectacular places - beaches, hill stations, treks, caves and many more. Now, I'm not a veteran traveler - indeed, the bug's bitten me only recently - but even in my short travel time, I'm astounded by the amount this state has to offer.

Self and wife went to Malshej Ghat - gorgeous greenery. We went to Malvan - stunning beaches. Heck, you can even just roam around Mumbai's forts and old city and discover amazing stuff on a weekend.

Add this to my love for Google Earth - which I believe is one of the finest programs ever. So what I did was very simple - I spent a lot of time mapping out various places that I'd like to visit in Maharashtra. And put placemarkers for them, and classified them.

Over 150 places in Maharashtra. Get off yer ass and go!

Places categorized!

And I'd like to share that file with you.

Download it from here (it's a 16 KB direct download).
Open it with Google Earth. And voila! Enjoy!

There are over 150 places, but a few disclaimers:
1. It's not comprehensive. I went through about 20 lists - from trekking websites to Wikipedia, but could have missed something out. Lemme know what these are, and I'll add them in (and update)
2. Some places are repeated. For eg: The same places might be in 'treks' and in 'forts'. And some forts might not be in 'fort' because it's in 'treks'. Kindly adjust.

Well, there you go. Don't ever complain that there are no places to visit near Mumbai or Pune. For cheap buses, check out the MSRTC website.

Well, enjoy :D

And yes - spread the word across people from Mumbai. More people need to get off their arses and go out rather than vegetate home on weekends ;)

Only instance of brothers on opposing sides in Test and ODI cricket respectively

11) Who was the last cricketer to score a double century in his last Test innings?

Jason Gillespie.

BQ) FC cricket. Who sent away all his fielders, wicketkeeper included, leaving only himself, the two batsmen and the 2 umpires. Then he recalled just one fielder, placed him near the stumps. When asked why, he replied, "I've troubled the umpires enough, this guy's going to pick up the bails". True to form, he clean bowled the batsman, the fielder picked up the bails and handed them to the umpire. Who was this bowler?

Bart King, widely regarded as USA's best ever cricketer.

12) Ranjitsinjhi, Deodar, Nayadu, Merchant, Hazare are the only cricketers to be ___________ ?

Commemmorated on Indian postage stamps.

13) The question I asked Steven and got it featured! When was the last time that whites were worn in an ODI?

Hint: A near-emulation of Kapil Dev-Eddie Hemmings.

Zimbabwe v India, December 2001

14) Sunil and Rohan Gavaskar are the only father-son pair to do what?

Take a wicket off their first over in ODIs.

15) Which is the only cricket ground in the world that was built over a water body? Hint: 12th and 13th men